Challenges Part 1: In Dreams
by Nighteyes27
Summary: Deja vu....with the Animorphs, V3, and a bit of JC
1. In Dreams

**Challenges, Part 1:**

**In Dreams**

_Cassie was in wolf morph, down in the Yeerk Pool. I was there, but couldn't morph. The others weren't there._

_Cassie jumped at a Hork-Bajir's throat. After tearing it out, she twisted to avoida Hork-Bajir's wrist blade...._

_....Impaling herself straight onto another! _

_< CASSIE!!!! > I yelled, in tiger morph, but it was too late. As she fell, I saw the otehr Animorphs come up behinf her. "All your fault," Rachel said, mad._

_"You doomed us," Marco said._

_< Where were you when we needed you? > Tobais demanded._

_< Some Prince YOU are, Jake, > Ax sneered. All of this happened in a second. Cassie hit the ground at the hooves of Visser Three. The sounds was like a death knoll. Visser Three raised his tail blade and-_

I sat bolt upright in bed, sweating and worried. My eyes wide open, seeing nothing in the dark. This was a recurring dream for many nights. Exhausted, I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

 

THE NEXT DAY....

 

I trudged my way through the pouring rain, making myself go forwards to Cassie's. Erek had called a meeting. That meant bad news, explaining why I was reluctant to go to Cassie's.

Don't get me wrong: I love Cassie, and her barn even, with every fiber of my being. But, when it comes to the Animorphs, I have come to hate going to her barn: it means bad news.

"Hey, guys, I'm here," I said, shaking off the rain from my slicker. "About time," Rachel said. She was lounging on a bale of hay.

"Sorry," I said by way of apology. "I had to make a good excuse for Tom. He knows I hate rain. Where's Cassie?" I asked sharply.

Suddenly, a picture popped into my head. Cassie, being beaten and tormented by Hork-Bajir while being dragged down to the Yeerk Pool. Trying to morph, being stunned with a Dracon Beam. Her head being shoved under....

I felt the rush of adrenaline enter my system.

Get a grip on yourself, man! YOU'RE the leader! You can't be freaking out! I mentally berated myself. 

"I'm here," Cassie said from the barn door. "My dad had me lug these meds down. Give me a hand, Jake?" she asked. Ignoring Marco's snicker, I helped her manhandle the two large bags in.

As I did, I worked on slowing my breathing and fighting the panic that had overcome me so swiftly.

I turned and looked at Cassie, and felt my face stretch into a fool's grin. Even sopping wet, Cassie was beautiful.

Shows how far I've fallen in love.

Anyway, Erek showed up at precisely 9:30. "Bad news," he said, shaking rain off his image of a slicker.

"The Yeerks have gotten a new machine, called the Hacenfrelo, that will enable them to find Ax, and expose the rest of you."

I swear time seemed to stop. "What?" I demanded. I could feel my heart begin to speed up again. "How?"

"Well, it's interesting. The same scientists that developed the AMR," and here Erek made a slight bow towards Tobias, "developed this before their untimely death. What happens, is that the Yeerks release a chemical airborne agent that attaches itself to a particular DNA structure-in this case, an Andalite's. Once sufficient particles have attached to Ax, it will send out a concentrated chemical marker that won't disappear if Ax morphs. It will expose you-well, do I have to lay this all out? What do you think Visser Three will figure, after he sees only one Andalite? There is already speculation, from him and others, that you are human. A lot of clues point to it."

There was silence for a moment as we all absorbed this new info. "The Hacenfrelo is being held in the Yeerk Pool; luckily, it's not done. I suggest you get into the Yeerk Pool ASAP and destroy it."

While he had been talking, I had been racing to figure out a plan. I suddenly thought of one. "3 of us will acquire Chapman and a few other know human-Controllers. I'm sure Illim will let 2 of us morph him. We'll sneak in and go from there. That sound good to eveyone?" 

When they nodded, I said, "Well, today's a Thursday that we get off. Tomorrow, me, Marco, and Rachel acquire Chapman. Cassie, arrange for Tobias and Ax to acquire Illim after school. Meet at Cassie's barn on Staurday, 8 o'clock sharp. AM," I said with a meaningful look towards Marco.

Eveyone agreed and left. I remained. 

"Cassie, can I talk to you for a sec?" I asked. She nodded.

Taking a deep breath, I started. "I-I had a dream, where we were in the Yeerk Pool, and you-you-you died. So, just be careful, OK?"

"OK," she agreed. On impulse, I pulled her into a bear hug. She returned it. Separating a little bit, I looked at her eyes. The feeling hit us both at the same time, like lightning. I bent my head downward, she arched hers upward, and we kissed. French style. Not the one on the cheeks, either.

Separating, we stared each other in the eyes. We both smiled.

The moment seemed to span a thousand years, until we heard Cassie's dad say, "Cassie?"

"See you later?" she asked.

I nodded. I gave her a peck on the cheek and walked quickly back to my house.


	2. Prophecies

Challenges, Part 2:  
Prophecies 

As my dad called for me, I recalled me and Jake's latest kiss, and felt warm, thought a bit shaky. It had been…intense, and I wasn't sure if I was read for that sort of commitment.

_That's in the future, _I told myself firmly. _For now, think of the present. Of Jake._

Thinking of the events that led up to out kiss, though, I shivered. Jake had told me that he had had a dream of me dying. What I _didn't_ tell him was that I had had the same dream, of me dying in the Yeerk Pool. Also, when he said it, I felt…..I don't know. Something like, I KNEW it had to be true. I knew it would happen.

I didn't let Jake know. I blanked my face, didn't let my emotions show. Didn't want to be weak. Jake, he is just an incredible person. Despite all his stress, between the Yeerks and his brother, he keeps it together. That's another reason to tell him; no need to add it to his stress levels. He might even cancel the mission for me, and that would be doom for the human race.

So, anyway, I jogged over to where my dad was feeding the meds to the animals. "Dad, can I go out with Rachel tomorrow for a while? She convinced me to go to the mall."

He peered at me, eyes bright with humor. "Is this the Cassie I know? Going to the _mall _with Rachel? Wow, look at how much you've changed!"

I said nothing, but drifted into his arms and a big hug. "No matter what happens, Cassie, you'll always be my precious, little baby girl. I'll always love you."

I said nothing, but tears formed in my eyes. _Would you say the same thing, Dad, if you knew what I had become?_

_ _

SATURDAY……

We met at my barn at precisely 8 o'clock. I had gotten Tobias and Ax in to acquire Illim, and Rachel, Jake, and Marco had somehow managed to acquire Chapman.

We flew to MickeyD's, and demorphed in the dumpster. Once inside, we all went up to the counter and asked the serving girl for a Happy Meal with extra happy. She made a fake laugh and jerked her head to the restrooms. We headed in that direction, but, once we were sure the girl was paying attention to other customers, went into the bathrooms. They had a men's and a women's. The pairs we had decided on earlier were: Jake and Tobias, Rachel and I, and Marco and Ax. 

Rachel and I stashed our stuff behind one of the toilets, and we both morphed at the same time. 

I felt the Yeerk changes start. A gray mucus covered me from head to toe. My eyes and ears filmed over, as I became blind and almost deaf. I shrunk suddenly, two antennae popping out of my 'forehead'. My arms and legs retracted into my body. My neck chemical to avoid outing Rachel through thickened, becoming as thick as the Yeerk. I became award of vibrations. Something picked me up in its hand, and pressed me into an opening. Oh! Oh! An ear canal!

I slithered in, pushing membranes out of the way and secreting the pain-deadening chemical to avoid sending Rachel into agony.

I crawled into her [A/n: For the sake of simplifying, I will refer to Rachel as 'her' while she's in Chapman morph] brain. I saw memories everywhere I turned.

I saw Rachel, going on a balance bean for the very first time. Rachel, reveling in her predator morphs and predator mindset, getting a rush from battle. Rachel, Rachel, Rachel.

But probing her left me vulnerable to her probing. She saw my distaste of combat, my love of peace, of animals, of nature. She saw the time when I quit the Animorphs, saw me through my eyes. As I saw me through her eyes. I saw her through her own eyes; she saw herself from my point of view.

We learned more intimate things about each other in five minutes than we knew from a lifetime. We became better friends, understanding each other perfectly.

We snuck down into the Yeerk Pool with the boys, each in their own morphs. Once there, we morphed out behind a building.

"Tobias," Jake whispered. "Go up and see if you can spot a place where the Hacenfrelo might be."

No prob, Tobias said and silently swooped up. After about 5 minutes, he was back.

I see it, he reported. Big guard, but Visser Three isn't there. 

"Let's go," Jake said. He began morphing tiger; I morphed wolf; Rachel morphed bear; Marco, gorilla; Tobias morphed Ax; and Ax stayed himself.

I hope you don't mind, Ax-man, Tobias said when he completed the morph.

I don't, Tobias, Ax said. As my _shorm, _I grant you permission to morph me anytime. 

Thanks, Ax-man. 

Stay in the shadows until we reach the building, Jake ordered. Follow me, Tobias said.

We followed him until we reached a shack with about 50 Hork-Bajir guarding it. Prince Jake, might I suggest a distraction? Ax suggested.

What do you have in mind, Ax? Jake questioned the Andalite.

If the guards see myself and Tobias, they might chase us. Some of them, anyway. Plus, it will help to inforce the image that we are all Andalites. Ax justified his idea.

Well…. Jake hesitated, clearly reluctant to send Tobias and Ax into a situation where they could be killed, merely to draw some of the guard away.

Jake, we'll be fine. We'll double back and lead the Hork-Bajir around a merry chase, and then come back here. Tobias spoke in support of Ax's idea.

All right, Jake let in.

Tobias and Ax ran through the middle of the pack of Hork-Bajir. The Yeerks were so stunned, they didn't react. I saw both Ax and Tobias' tail blades flash; then I saw two Hork-Bajir slump, dead.

They ran around the outer lip of the cavern. The Hork-Bajir sounded the alarm, and about 25 left to chase our teammates. That was still about 25 for the four of us, though.

OK, go! Jake ordered. We leapt into battle. I don't' remember any of the battle; however, eventually I ended up in the shack. I saw the machine in a corner.

I went over to it. Computer, self-destruct? I asked timidly.

**To access self-destruct, **the computer said,** hold down red button and blur button, and enter access code "Frejsnik".** I swear to God it was the truth.

Tears formed in my wolf eyes as I realized what I had to do. I could hear the battle outside; my friends were getting pounded. I held down the red and blue buttons.

I love you, Jake, I said, whimpering.

Frejsnik. 

A huge flash of light filled the room.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!! 


End file.
